variables affecting conformity

• group size


  • asch found little conformity with one or two confederates
  • the majority of 3 confederates = proportion of conforming responses jumped to about 30%
  • campbell + fairey (1989) suggest group size may have different effect depending on individual's judgement
• the unanimity of the majority

  • in asch, the confederates unanimously gave the same wrong answer
  • when real ppt given support of another real ppt or confederate = conformity levels dropped, reducing % of wrong answers from 33% to 5.5%
  • if ppt gave answer different from majority = conformity rates dropped to 9%
• difficulty of the task

  • more difficult to pick correct target line = conformity levels increased
  • lucas et al (2006) found that the influence of task difficulty is moderated by self-efficacy of individual
  • with a math problem - ↑ self-efficacy ppts remained more independent than the lower
  • difficulty and individual differences determine conformity